Coming In
by Reija Linn
Summary: 'Why am I different than everybody else?' Ron wonders, while trying to look as if he's not watching Hermione. 'Just because I'm het doesn't mean I'm a bad person...'


Title: Coming In  
Author: Reija Linn (T'Reija)  
Email/Feedback: theganan@gmx.de or thiari@theganan.de  
Archive: ff-net. Others please ask beforehand and leave the full header intact.  
Originally posted: hpslash list  
  
Pairing/Codes: Various m/m & f/f, Ron/Hermione, humour  
Rating: [PG]  
Summary: 'Why am I different than everybody else?' Ron wonders, while trying to look as if he's not watching Hermione. 'Just because I'm het doesn't mean I'm a bad person...'  
Spoilers: Haven't read the books? Do so. Right away. Do not eat, sleep or pause until you're finished. Then come back.  
Warnings: male/male sexuality and/or relationship(s) featured within. Don't like, don't read, don't flame. Simple really, though seemingly not simple enough for some dim witted clots out there.  
  
Legal disclaimer: I never have, nor ever will, owned the rights to the setting of the Harry Potter books or the characters featured within. The use of said settings and characters by me is for non-commercial purposes only and does not mean to infringe upon the given legal rights that belong to Ms. J.K.Rowling and those she has associated them with.  
  
Notes: This one needs some explaining, I'm afraid, 'cause *urgh*, to each their own, but I am *not*, and never have been, never will be, a het writer, the thought of Ron/Hermione gives me *nothing*. It's just my own humorous way of dealing with the net-homophobes out there, set in my 'blue universe' and inspired by a German film of the same title. Okay, so why blue? If anyone has ever read the wonderful short story 'Am I Blue?' by Bruce Coville, they know why. In that story, it is said that one of the major three gay wishes is that everyone who is gay turns blue for one day, so it'd all be in the open. So, my 'blue universe' is that which is found very often in slash and which I *normally* try to avoid... basically, all characters are gay. Well, and as for the German movie, it was quite humorously turning the whole homophobic situation around; happily-married gay man falls in love with a woman, and suddenly all his gay friends turn away from him - get it?  
  
Major Warning: This story, though slash in the deeper meaning, features a het pairing. Those of you who are easily offended or squicked by this are advised to move elsewhere. You have been warned.  
  
  
COMING IN  
By T'Reija (September 2001)  
  
I. Denial:  
  
Ron Weasley sat in Gryffindor's common room, trying to look as if he was doing his transfiguration homework. From the dorm upstairs he could hear frantic panting and Neville's voice shouting 'harder, Percy, c'mon, show me you love me!!!'.  
  
Oh my.  
  
Wasn't anyone ever getting sick of this? It wasn't that Ron didn't like sex, or lads - of course he was gay!!! - but he didn't get quite that excited by the idea as everyone else seemed to. As so often, he wished himself back into first year. Things seemed... uncomplicated, back then. People talked about other things than hot blokes and sex. When had all of that changed?  
  
He still remembered how his friendship with Harry used to be. They'd been able to talk about anything. Now? Well, when Harry wasn't off bonking Draco (third of the day, minimum) or in class ('nother third), and still found any time at all for Ron besides homework and Quidditch practice (fifty percent of remaining time), he was always trying to convince Ron to 'go and find a nice guy', or to 'shag with his brothers'. It was really unnerving. Harry had even locked him into a room with Justin Finch-Fletchley from Hufflepuff once for three hours!  
  
Justin and he had talked a little, and kissed a little, but Ron didn't want to go any further. They'd dated for a couple of weeks afterwards, but it just hadn't seemed... well, it wasn't /right/.  
  
It wasn't that Justin wasn't a nice guy. He was fine. Good-natured, nice body, sense of humour. Ron simply wasn't interested. It wasn't as if you could just fall for a bloke just because everybody thought you belonged together!  
  
Actually, Ron had sometimes even wondered if perhaps he was...  
  
NO! He firmly reminded himself that he *was* gay, and the *only* reason he would raise his head every once in a while to shoot long looks in Hermione's general direction was to copy from her parchments.  
  
He. Was. Gay.  
  
All his family was gay! His father had a fulfilling relationship with Lucius Malfoy, while his mother and Narcissa were quite contend to be with each other. (Of course, they'd had to swap partners a couple of times to produce him and his siblings as well as Draco... but his father had always assured him the large number of them was *not* due to the fact that he *enjoyed* sleeping with women. That was merely a necessity.) Bill was shagging Snape every time he came to Hogwarts, though it wasn't official yet. Charlie was still single, but he'd had quite a reputation at school, being a seeker and all, all the guys had been after him. Percy, well, he wasn't apparating to Hogsmeade and coming up here every weekend to play checkers with Neville, was he? Fred and George were doing it with each other, or sometimes Lee Jordan, and Ginny had Cho.  
  
He couldn't be anything but gay. What would his parents say? And his friends? They would never understand! And next week, they were having a school disco. And everybody had someone to go there with.  
  
Harry and Draco.  
  
Neville and Percy.  
  
Fred and George (and Lee? would they show as a trio?)  
  
Dean and Seamus.  
  
Justin and Ernie.  
  
Even Crabbe and Goyle the stupid trolls had each other.  
  
Ginny and Cho.  
  
Hermione and...  
  
Hermione. She didn't have a girlfriend! Perhaps he could talk to her about this. Not tell her he was... well... you know, and he wasn't, anyway, but just talk about being single and everything... Perhaps she could even tell him why he'd had no luck with guys up to now...  
  
***  
***  
  
II. Tentative Approach: A Date For The Ball  
  
"Hey, Hermione..."  
  
She turned in mid-step when she heard Ron's voice, trying not to look too excited. "Wassup?"  
  
"Um, nothing really... I was just wondering... um... never mind." he blushed.  
  
"Okay." She noticed his glum expression. "Um. I was just going to the library to return these books. Coming with me?" Again, trying to look non-chalant. This was no big deal. This was only her mate Ron, and he'd laugh at her if he ever...  
  
No, she was just going to be a friend to him, and then she'd ask Angelina to the ball. Alicia had just broken up with her, so she wouldn't have anyone to go there with, yet. And she wouldn't want anything else since she was still in love with Alicia.  
  
They walked in silence, for the most part. Arrived at the library. Hermione handed her books back in and got a whole pile of new ones. Ron carried half the stack back to their common room, blushing furiously, but still not speaking a word.  
  
The common room was empty, so they sat down at a table.  
  
"So, um, you wanted to talk to me, right?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"..."  
  
"..."  
  
"What about?"  
  
"... um. I was just wondering. I mean. You know I don't have... and you don't... or do you? I mean... I think you don't..."  
  
"For God's sake, Ron, WHAT don't I have?"  
  
"Agirlfriendatthemoment."  
  
"..."  
  
"..."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"And... I was thinking, you know, since I don't have a boyfriend, and you don't have a girlfriend, and it's next week already... I mean... Hermione, couldn't we just go to the darn ball together? A-a-as friends, of course, you know, because I don't know who to go with, I don't know any guy I could go with, and..."  
  
"OK."  
  
"You're going?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Great."  
  
They smiled at each other, both trying to hide deeper emotions they did *not* want to show each other.  
  
***  
***  
  
III. The Ball: Undeliberate In-ing  
  
Some snickered, of course, at the sight of them. The Slytherins started calling them 'breeders' and other cruel names, but mostly, people just pitied them for not finding proper dates. The majority finally came up with the following scenario: Hermione was just too engrossed in her work to care much for dating, and Ron was madly in love with Harry but knew it was unrequited because there simply was no better fit than Potter and Malfoy. So, they'd turned to their respective best friends, probably craving the safety of a date that would not expect any involvement.  
  
Ron and Hermione didn't care. Though they would not admit it to each other, they were happy to be in each other's company instead of some boy's or girl's, respectively. And despite the Slytherins' attempts to spoil it for them, it was a wonderful evening.  
  
That was, of course, until the slow dancing part came. All pairs were supposed to dance together. Ron and Hermione had been dancing to the more pop-like Weird Sister before, and Ron wanted to turn back to their seats, but Hermione suggested they could just - give the others something to stare at, just as a joke...  
  
To cut a long story short, when Ron felt Hermione's body so close to his own, so close he could smell her hair, so close he could feel the soft outline of her breasts against his chest, he was so overwhelmed, he leaned forward and brushed his lips against hers.  
  
The moment passed too quickly for Hermione to react, for Pansy Parkinson immediately screeched out "They *are* a pair of breeders after all!"  
  
Ron's complexion turned almost as red as his hair, as he near to jumped away from Hermione.  
  
He was dimly aware of Percy's "My own brother... what will everyone at the Ministry think!" and Harry's "I never knew..."  
  
"Gosh, I'm..." He got no further, but instead ran of and out of the hall.  
  
Everyone was taken aback at this. Of course, not everyone thought heterosexuality was wrong, but it was... well, unusual. Some students hardly cared - most of them, after all, had a het /somewhere/ in the family, a second cousin, or an uncle living abroad... but no one would have thought /Ron/ to be like that... he always seemed so... well... so normal.  
  
Of course, everyone was staring at Hermione, until she finally shouted "Just grow up, will you?" and rushed out of the hall.  
  
At the teacher's table, Professor Dumbledore sighed. "Won't they ever learn..."  
  
***  
***  
  
IV. Confessions  
  
She found him in the boys' dormitory, which she snuck into after making *sure* no one was looking. The curtains of one of the beds were pulled closed, so she knew that was Ron's bed.  
  
"Hey, Ron..." she said, lightly, assuring.  
  
"Go... Hermione, just go away!" was the sobbed response from behind the curtains.  
  
"Look, Ron, it's okay, I..."  
  
"Look, I'm really, really sorry for what... what happened down there. I don't know what came over me! I don't usually... I mean, I'm not... Just leave me alone now, okay?"  
  
Hermione thought for a moment about pulling the curtains back, then she simply said, very matter-of-factly "You know, I'm het, Ron."  
  
"What?" *disbelieving*  
  
"Yeah, I'm heterosexual, I'm a 'filthy breeder', as Parkinson would call it. I've always suspected, but I was really sure in third year, when everyone was trying to set you up with Finch-Fletchley... I just thought you were, you know, gay, when you started going out with him, so I never said anything..."  
  
The curtains were pulled back, and Ron looked up to her with a look of utter surprise. "How can you... well.... how can say that so lightly, Hermione? I mean, it's just... I think it's horrible, feeling this way, not feeling for you I mean, but being different than everybody else... and I've tried everything to be like them, but I just..."  
  
"... can't, I know, Ron." She chuckled softly. "So you feel for me?"  
  
Ron blushed fiercely. "Yeah," he finally admitted.  
  
"That's good." Hermione grinned. "'cause I feel for you, too."  
  
Tentatively, she moved towards the bed, and when he did not stop her, sat down beside him. "Would you... would you do what you did at the ball to me again?" she smiled, taking his hand. She could see Ron was nervous, and beneath her air of self-confidence, she was, too. Neither of them had ever done this with someone of the opposite sex. But all thoughts were lost when their lips touched again, parted, when their kiss deepened...  
  
"Gosh, guys, do you have to do this in the boys dorm?" Harry's voice, with an - amused? - undertone.  
  
Guiltily, they parted to look at the boy standing in the dorm's entrance. Harry was... well. He was making an effort. He still had wonder all written over him, and his whole composure seemed a little nervous... but he was smiling.  
  
"Hey," he finally said. "Just thought I'd let you know I talked with some of the lads downstairs... guess most of them are a little... well... surprised." He broke off, cleared his throat, then continued, "Actually, I'm a little surprised, too... I mean, we've been friends for five years now, and both of you have never even said a word..."  
  
Ron caught his eye. "Would you have understood before?"  
  
Harry thought about this for a while. "Well. I guess it always would have been a shock. But we are friends, so I don't really care that much, horses for courses and everything. I'm glad if you're happy. And people will calm down, you know. The guys may play you down a little, Ron, not take you seriously, but they all know there are worse things. Most girls won't care that much either way, except for people like Pansy Parkinson, and personally, I always took her for a het myself. The way she looks at Draco." He made a pause to think of a few unpleasant things to do to Pansy. "You're probably going to be the one having a hard time, Herm'... you know, a lot of guys will panic and think you'd throw yourself at anyone as long as he has a willy... but eventually, everyone'll get over it. Even Draco said, when he can date a Gryffindor, he'll be able to tolerate a br... a het."  
  
Ron was actually smiling by now. What did he care even if everyone *did* call him names or whisper after him in the hall. He had Hermione, the most wonderful girl he could imagine. And Harry, who was a great friend. And one day, his family would understand.  
  
"So, are you coming back to the party? Draco said something about hexing Pansy's punch, it sounds real funny... you ought to see it." He went ahead and motioned for the other two to join him.  
  
So Ron and Hermione left the dormitory together, holding hands.  
  
And they lived happily ever after.  
  
THE END 


End file.
